Where to Get a Salad in Beijing

We love Peking duck and pork dumplings as much as the next traveler, but after chowing down on those local delicacies in Beijing, you may crave something a little fresher. These veggie-heavy spots are here to help.

At this organic restaurant across from the Worker’s Stadium, the cuisine is advertised as “fresh as f--k,” and its menu features a “glossary of goodness,” with symbols denoting which items are vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and so forth. There are salads on bread (like an egg and avocado salad served with radish, kimchi relish, and mizuna on sprouted seven grain), salads over mixed grains (smoked tofu with marinated carrot, mizuna, and sunflower and pumpkin seeds), and more traditional dishes like the house salad, with kale, quinoa, fennel, orange, hummus, and pistachios dressed in a chili-citrus vinaigrette. (China View, Building 3, 2 Gongti Dong Lu near Gongti Bei Lu; +86 0 10 8587 1899)

With Beijing's pollution and secondhand smoke, many expats (and some locals) have been opting for healthy green juices and whole grains. Daniel Urdaneta and Alex Molina—who have been “bros” since the pair first opened Sanlitun mainstays Mosto and Modo in 2008—satisfy that desire with this restaurant, which serves salads and paleo bowls. For a boost of greens, order the veggie medley, combining green beans, chickpeas, avocado, zucchini, hard-boiled egg, eggplant, and black olives. In addition to the wellness-focused menu, Moka Bros offers a full list of cocktails, wine, and beer—but given Beijing's proliferation of bars, it may be better to instead refresh yourself with a smoothie of ginger, carrot, lemon, and orange. (Sanlitun: G/Fl., Nali Patio, 81 Sanlitun Bei Lu near Gongti Bei Lu, behind Uniqlo and the Apple Store; +86 0 10 5208 6079)

Yunteng Shifu

Every province in China has a government office in Beijing, and most of these have state-owned restaurants inside. Beijing insiders know that these tend to be some of the best places to experience the various regional cuisines of China. Yunteng Shifu at the Yunnan Provincial Government Office is one of our favorites, featuring a variety of small salads; the locals, meanwhile, flock here for the salt-and-pepper fried goat’s cheese, steamed pot chicken, mixed wild mushrooms (for which Yunnan is well-regarded), and deep-fried cactus, all accompanied by sweet black rice wine. (Inside Yunteng Hotel, Building, 7 Donghuashi Beili Dongqu near Jianguomen Nan Dajie; +86 0 10 6713 6439)